


Snowflakes and skam

by Gansey44



Category: SKAM (TV)
Genre: Eva and Jonas are going out at first, Eva is an adorable dork when it comes to Noora, F/F, F/M, I realised that there are hardly any Eva/Noora fanfics in the fandom- what's up with that?!, Isak has his secret crush on Jonas, Noora is just an absolute babe, Skiing AU, This is very season 1 era- i haven't decided if Even will pop up yet (tell me if you want him to!), plently of girl squad banter thrown in, the girl squad rules the world okay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2017-01-11
Packaged: 2018-09-11 12:24:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8979601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gansey44/pseuds/Gansey44
Summary: In this skiing school trip AU, Noora is the beautiful new girl that Eva can't seem to take her eyes off. But obviously she is very firmly off limits because Eva has her boyfriend, Jonas. However when Noora offers to give her skiing lessons the two girls' feelings for each other start to get infinitely more complicated- who will end up kissing who under the mistletoe?(Oh God I know I suck at summaries)





	1. Chapter 1

“This,” Vilde said excitedly, leaning over Eva to practically press her face against the bus window, “is going to be the best Christmas _ever_.”

Sana’s heavily unimpressed voice came from the seats behind them, followed by Chris’s snort: “Because that is so not the biggest cliché Christmas saying ever.”

Her lips pursing, Vilde turned to Eva and lowered her voice crossly. “Why is she so rude all the time? Does she not have any Christmas cheer or anything?”

“Well, she’s Muslim” Eva pointed out. “She doesn’t celebrate Christmas.”

“It isn’t because of that” Vilde hissed back, “it’s because she doesn’t believe in _fun_.”

For her part, Eva also felt excited- the bus had just pulled up in front of the huge traditional chalet hotel they were staying at for the week before Christmas. Dark fir trees created a scenic backdrop for the hotel, with curving ski slopes running down the mountains behind like ribbons through white fabric. Practically every kid on the bus was excitedly talking about the hotel and the slopes, their voices rising.

At the front, the teacher stood up and called for quiet. “Okay, everybody, I’m going to be telling you who you’ll be sharing a room with. I want everyone to go upstairs and unpack, and then we’ll be going to hire our ski equipment. A warning: there will be no arguing on who you’ll be put in a room with, our decision is final I’m afraid.”

There were groans up and down the bus. As the teacher read out the list Vilde leaned closer to Eva and whispered, “I honestly don’t mind who I’m put in a room with as long as it’s not-”

“-Vilde and Sana,” said the teacher, before continuing, “Eva and Chris, Jonas and Isak-”

It was almost funny to see the look of exasperation that crossed the blonde girl’s face, and to hear the soft groan from Sana behind them. Eva bit her lip, trying not to smile. She’d only been friends with Sana, Chris and Vilde for a few months- since everything had turned to shit with Ingrid- but Sana and Vilde’s bickering still never failed to make her laugh.

“Lastly,” the teacher went on, “we have one single room...”, there were eager shouts from various people asking if they could have it, “and that’s going to our new student, Noora.”

More groaning. “Lucky girl” Sana said irritably behind them.

Eva looked over the aisle- she could see the new student Noora sat on the opposite row one seat ahead of them, her eyebrows raised at all the commotion. She was wearing a dark grey woollen coat, her blonde hair just skimming the edge of her blue turtleneck. The same exact shade of blue as her eyes, actually, Eva couldn’t help but notice.

She’d been noticing a lot of things about the new girl lately, actually. She couldn’t seem to help looking at her.

Vilde noisily gathering her stuff, still complaining under her breath, bought her back to her senses. _Focus, Eva._ The students gathered their heavy suitcases and proceeded to stagger up the many flights of stairs to their rooms. Inside the chalet was warm and cosy, with log-burning fireplaces and thick colourful rugs.

Luckily Eva had a rucksack so she was able to make her way up the stairs more comfortably than some of her classmates- Chris, for example, had bought such a large case that she’d ended up sitting on it and collapsing into defeated laughter- until she spotted the new girl, Noora, struggling with case. Watching her for a moment, Eva darted up the few steps between them and smiled at her. “Hey, do you need any help?”

Noora paused, smiling back at her gratefully. “Thank you, that’s so nice. Do you mind taking this?”

She handed her a smaller bag so that she could use two hands to carry her suitcase.

“I’m, um, Eva, by the way” Eva added as they started climbing again. _Smooth, Eva_. For some reason her words felt all jittery in front of Noora, and she didn’t quite know where to look.

“Noora. Nice to meet you.” The other girl smiled at her again, and Eva was struck by how nice her red lipstick looked.

 

She ended up dropping the bag outside Noora’s door, which was right at the end of the girls’ corridor. She then went into her own room, where Chris had somehow managed to dump her case on the floor and spread out half her clothes around the room already. “Hey, roomie” she said cheerfully, kicking off her shoes and laughing when one landed on Eva’s bed.

“Hey.” Eva threw the shoe back at her. At home, her room was always fairly neat- she guessed that for this week she would have to forget that when sharing a room with Chris, who was way too laid back to care about something like tidiness.

All of a sudden, the door burst open and Vilde entered looking irritable. “Oh! Your room is so much nicer than ours!”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it’s tiny. And Sana _insisted_ on having the bigger bed.”

“I did not.” Sana had walked in, looking indignant. “Besides, they’re both the same size, Einstein.”

As Vilde opened her mouth to furiously reply, Eva jumped up. “Guys! Please can we not fight this week? Let’s just have one awesome week of skiing and fun, yeah?”

“Hear, hear” said Chris solemnly, raising a hipflask she seemed to have produced from her bag and taking a sip.

Vilde took a breath before fixing them all a bright smile. “Sure!”

Behind her, Sana just rolled her eyes. Turning away, Eva tried to hide her smirk and ended up catching Chris’s eye, both of them turning their laughter into hasty coughs.

Vilde was right. This was going to be the best Christmas ever, however cheesy it was.

 

 

 

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Eva turned- she had been staring out the cable car window at the trees and the snow as they travelled slowly up the mountainside- to see her boyfriend Jonas grinning at her.

“Very! I love the mountains. Makes you feel so small, doesn’t it?”

“I was talking about you, actually” he grinned, leaning forward to kiss her.

Eva laughed, pushing him away when he snuck a kiss onto her neck. “Now that’s just too syrupy, even for you.”

The cable car was full of students all making their way up to the top of the mountain, expectantly holding their skis and snowboards. Her eyes fell on Noora, talking to Chris and Sana by the doors. Their eyes met for a second until Eva forced her attention back to Jonas standing in front of her.

“What?” he said teasingly, raising his eyebrows. “I thought girls loved that sort of crap.”

“Maybe if this was a romcom movie, Jonas.”

“Woah!” Isak had appeared from nowhere, somehow tripping and bumping heavily into Jonas, who cursed and rubbed his shoulder.

Eva laughed. “You don’t even have the skis on yet and you’re already falling over?”

“It’s a talent” he replied with his usual easy grin, curls poking out from under his hat. He nudged Jonas. “So, are we going down the black run first? If you can keep up with me, that is.”

“No! Don’t do the black run first” Eva said quickly.

“Why?” Jonas turned to her with a grin. “Scared?”

“No! I just…” she took a breath, “well, I’ve never actually been skiing before.”

For a moment, they just blinked at her. Eva felt herself blush- it seemed like everyone had skied before in their class but her. They would all be shooting expertly down the steepest runs whilst she stood paralysed at the top, or made a complete fool of herself by falling over and rolling halfway down the mountain. In fact, the only other person she knew who hadn’t skied before was Vilde.

_“Never?”_

“No.” When would she have got the chance? Her dad hadn’t been around for a long time, and it seemed like her mum was forever away working. Sometimes it felt like she’d missed out on a lot of things like this.

“You’ll pick it up quickly” Jonas assured her. “Just like riding a bike.”

Isak snorted.

Eva hoped Jonas was right.

 

 

At the top of the mountain, the teacher gathered everyone together. Eva was struck by the view- there were dozens of mountains surrounding them, with the valley spread out far below like a map of tiny trees and grey roads. “Every morning you’ll all be having lessons in groups depending on your ability” she told them, “however this afternoon we don’t have much time, so you’re all free to split up and do what you like. I suggest that the less experienced skiers join up with those who are more advanced.”

“Go and do your black runs” Eva told Jonas and Isak, “I’ll be fine with the girls.”

“You sure?” Jonas said, whilst Isak was already eagerly putting on his goggles.

She nodded, waving as they both rapidly disappeared down the side of the mountain, already whooping and yelling to one another.

For the next forty minutes Sana patiently tried to teach Eva and Vilde the basics of skiing- well, she started out patient and quickly started rolling her eyes as they fell over again and again or skied into unsuspecting groups of people. Chris was trying to help, but she laughed so much watching Vilde ski right into a group of schoolboys from another school whilst squealing, “I don’t know how to stop!”, that she ploughed right into a snowdrift herself.

As she spat out another mouthful of snow and heaved herself up off the floor for what felt like the tenth time, Eva concluded that she didn’t like skiing very much. Or maybe she was just particularly awful at it.

“Who on earth is that?” Vilde said in awe, coming to a wobbly stop beside her.

They both looked to the top of the slope- a figure in a dark blue coat was whizzing elegantly down the mountain, curving in and out of the traffic with ease. As they came closer Eva spotted a perfect bob of blonde hair and felt her stomach do something weird. “It’s Noora. The new girl.”

Vilde was open-mouthed. “She’s amazing! Do you think she would teach me?”

As she reached them Noora glanced over and smiled before shooting past them. “She looked this way” Vilde exclaimed, before shooting Eva a curious look. She _lived_ for gossip. “Are you two friends?”

“I don’t really know her” Eva replied honestly. _Yet_ , she added in her head.

 

 

Two hours later Eva was lying prone on her bed, wincing. “Chris, I think my legs are gonna fall off.”

“Yeah?” Chris was crunching on some crisps as she sat cross-legged on her bed, texting.

After peeling off her damp clothes from spending half her time lying on the snow, Eva had showered and collapsed onto her bed. And now she ached. Everywhere. It felt like she’d used leg muscles she hadn’t even known she’d had. “Definitely. My muscles are on fire.”

“Worse than after sex aches?”

“Way worse.”

Chris whistled, shooting her a grin. “Woah, that is bad.”

Gritting her teeth, Eva sat up and checked her phone. Scrolling through Facebook, she pretended she was interested in what everyone was posting until she told herself to stop stalling. Her heart beating a little faster, she typed Noora Sætre into the search box. When Noora’s profile popped up, she scrolled through her pictures- Noora with friends, Noora holding a puppy, Noora in a bikini on the beach. Oh God. Quickly, she clicked off and, before she could lose her nerve, sent a friend request. So that she didn’t sit there staring at her phone like a dork Eva stuffed it under her duvet and fell back heavily onto her pillow, her arm thrown over her face.

Barely a second later, she heard a faint buzz. Jerking upright, she grabbed her phone eagerly to look at the screen.

**Jonas, 16:51: Do you want to come and hang out in our room later? Miss you x**

A small sigh escaped her mouth, causing Chris to look over with raised eyebrows. “Waiting to hear from someone in particular?”

“No” Eva said vaguely, before texting a response.

**Eva, 16:52: I thought girls weren’t allowed in boys rooms? (And vice versa)? x**

A few minutes later her phone buzzed again and she glanced it, expecting Jonas’s name to fill up the screen. But instead:

**Noora accepted your friend request on Facebook**

Something flipped weirdly in her stomach again as she clicked back onto Noora’s profile and then the messages button, her hands hovering over the keyboard. What should she say? _Hey, I saw you skiing today and you were awesome, do you want to teach me?_ No, that was way too needy- she hurriedly deleted it. _Hey, do you maybe want to hang out?_ Too vague, and definitely too random- she deleted that, too.

**Eva, 16:58: Hey, I really admired you**

Somehow, in the middle of hurriedly texting her latest idea- _hey, I really admired your skiing skills today haha, do you think you might be able to help me and my friend Vilde?-_ her clumsy fingers touched the send button. In the middle of the sentence.

“Holy fuck!” she burst out, horrified. I really admired you. Noora was going to think she was a complete psycho.

_Oh my god oh my god oh my god_

This was a complete disaster. She might as well just pack up her things and leave now, to save herself the mortification.

“What?” Chris demanded, sitting up straight, her expression keen. “Tell me!”

“It’s nothing…”

“Nothing? You look like you’re losing your mind with panic! And you’re blushing!” She winked, dropping her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “did Jonas just ask for a boob pic or something?”

“No!” Eva could feel her face getting even hotter as she panicked, typing furiously.

**Eva, 16:59: Haha sorry, typo mistake! I meant that I really admired your skiing skills today and wondered if you might be able to help me and my friend Vilde?**

Chris crowed. “Whoo, there is definitely _dramaaa_ going on here! When I tell Vilde she is so going to get it out of you-”

“You don’t need to tell Vilde! I just accidentally deleted this app I really wanted to keep, that’s all.”

“Sure you did” Chris replied with another wink.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh I know I haven't updated in literal weeks, I'm so sorry- it's been quite a busy time! Anyway I've made a vow that I'll be much more regular from now on. Sorry again!

The problem with agreeing to go and visit Jonas and Isak’s room was that a) she didn’t really want to- in fact she’d rather lie on her bed internally cringing about what she’d done, and b) she had no idea where their room actually _was._

It was after dinner, which they’d all had in the hotel restaurant, but Chris had left before Eva and when she’d come back to the room Chris hadn’t been there. Eva suspected she was either making out with a third year, or hanging out with Vilde or Sana somewhere. Either option was equally likely with Chris.

As she made her way down the girls’ half of the corridor she passed a door left ajar, from which a loud burst of Vilde’s unmistakable infectious laughter escaped. A second later, she heard, “Oh look- it’s Eva!” The door burst open and Vilde stood there, beaming at her. “Come in! We were wondering where you were.” Before Eva could answer, Vilde had seized her arm and yanked her inside.

Inside, tinny pop music was blaring from someone’s phone and several empty bottles of cider lay on the floor. This explained Vilde’s hyperactivity- alcohol turned her even more excitable than usual. It was actually pretty cute.

“What were you up to?” Sana asked suspiciously, lying on one of the beds with her arms crossed, leaving Vilde to squeeze up on the end of it.

“I was just-” Eva abruptly felt her mouth shut. Noora was sat on the other bed, beside Chris who was still sipping from her hipflask. Noora smiled at her, eyebrows raised.

“Want some?” Chris said cheerfully, offering the flask to her.

Eva had to swallow fast, her mouth had suddenly become very dry. “No thanks.” The last thing she needed now was to get drunk in front of Noora, but then again could she really embarrass herself even more? It would be quite an impressive feat.

Sana was watching her oddly. “Why aren’t you sitting down?”

Sending her a silly look, Eva squeezed into the only available space- which was between Noora and Chris, thanks to Sana’s legs taking up the majority of the other bed. The space was really too tight for three people- her things were jammed agasint the other two girls’, her elbows brushing Noora’s.

Not that she was inwardly freaking out about this at all.

Chris had jumped up and was acting out Vilde skiing into the group of schoolboys earlier that afternoon much to the other girls’ hilarity, and in all the loud hysteria Noora turned to her with a slightly teasing smile. “You admire me?”

Immediately, blood flooded into her cheeks. “Wait, did you not see my other message? The first one was a mistake, I-”

“Relax, Eva” Noora replied, holding her gaze as the smile widened. “I saw the other message. I’m just messing with you.”

“Oh.” Eva forced herself to take a breath. “Ok.”

“And I’d be perfectly happy to help you and Vilde, by the way” Noora went on. “Not to be rude, but I saw that you kind of need the help.”

“Hey! What are you saying?”

Noora raised her eyebrows again, smiling. “How many times did you fall over today? I would conservatively estimate around twenty. Don’t deny it, I was watching you.”

 _I was watching you_. “Ok, that is such an exaggeration. My feelings are seriously bruised now. As well as my body, by the way” she went on, as Noora laughed- the sound of it did something weird to Eva’s stomach again, “- Jesus, snow is _hard_ -”

“What are you two talking about?” interrupted Vilde brightly. Eva blinked, realising that everyone was looking at them expectantly.

“I was just congratulating Eva on her skills of falling over” Noora replied smoothly, sliding her gaze back to Eva. “It’s really impressive.”

“But you’re helping us tomorrow, right? I really want to be as good as you.”

“Of course.”

“So, _Noora_ ” said Sana, drawing out the word, “tell us about yourself. Where are you from? Siblings? Hobbies?”

If the question was slightly odd, Noora didn’t even hesitate. There was something confident and deliberate about everything she said and did, in a way that suggested she had complete self-confidence. Eva found she was a little bit jealous. “I moved here from Madrid a month ago because I wanted a change, basically. And no I don’t have any siblings, and I don’t really get on with my parents that well. They’re too obsessed over each other to really care about me. My hobbies…I like singing, I can play ukulele a bit. I was in the drama club at my old school.”

“Nice. What do you want to do when you’re older?”

“Sana, you can’t just interrogate-” Vilde started, giggling, but Noora kept talking.

“This may sound cheesy, but I want to do something that actually makes a difference. My biggest passion in life is achieving equality- primarily destroying the patriarchy, but obviously it’s all interlinked with LGBT+ rights, religious rights, racial rights etc.”

A short silence followed her words. Chris let out a low whistle, eyes wide. Vilde started giggling again, “wow”, whilst Sana eyed Noora as if she was re-evaluating her and liked what she saw.

“I like her” Sana announced, falling back onto the bed. “She can stay.”

“Thank you?” Noora said, laughing.

“Sana doesn’t like people easily” Vilde said to her in a dramatic stage-whisper, leaning forwards. “Consider yourself special.”

When the other girls started talking again, Noora looked back at Eva. “I feel as I’ve just been welcomed into a very exclusive group. Which is great- I was beginning to think I smelt, seeing as I was making no new friends.”

“I guess we are quite exclusive- though I’ve only been friends with these guys for a few months.”

“Really? You smell too?”

Eva laughed. “No, at least I hope not- I sort of fell out with my old friendship group.”

Noora raised her eyebrows is surprise. “I can’t imagine you fighting with anyone. You’re too sweet.”

Damn her stupid ability to blush at the slightest compliment. Eva could feel the heat creeping into her cheeks, so she dropped her gaze, opening her mouth to probably say something foolish.

Abruptly, the door swung open and Jonas walked in. “Hey, have any of you see Eva-?” He stopped mid-sentence, stopping her and frowning. “There you are! I thought you were gonna come and see me and Isak for a bit?”

“Sorry, I didn’t realise how late it was” she said brightly, jumping up. Jonas’s eyes were sweeping rapidly from her still-pink face to Noora, before he smiled back at her a moment too late and stepped forward to kiss her. They often kissed in public, often in the school corridors by the window whilst Isak stood nearby and made exasperated noises, but somehow kissing in the cramped room full of her friends and Noora felt too intimate, too awkward. Eva stepped back, keeping her smile in place. “Shall we go there now then?” She was already half-tugging Jonas out the room.

 

When they arrived in the boys’ room, Isak was lying on his bed with his eyes closed, headphones on and enthusiastically bopping his head up and down. At the sight of him Eva burst into laughter, before Jonas pressed a hand over her mouth and poked Isak right in the stomach.

Isak _yelped_. Sitting bolt upright, he ripped off his headphones and blinked at them with wide eyes. “Hey! I could have had a heart attack and died. And then you’d be sent home for killing a student, which would definitely ruin Christmas.”

Rolling his eyes, Jonas flopped onto his own bed- the movement caused his t-shirt to ride up, exposing a slither of his toned stomach. Eva glanced at Isak- the other boy looked away quickly, his cheeks pinkening.

Eva kept her eyes on him, thoughtful. _Odd._

“Is the new girl nice, then?” Jonas asked, patting the space beside him. As soon as Eva sat down he wrapped his arm around her tightly, pressing his face into her shoulder. “What’s her name again? Neeve?”

“Noora” she corrected. “And yeah, she’s nice.” All this was said very casually, as she picked at a loose thread on her sleeve.

“Pretty” Jonas commented.

“So hot, man” Isak chimed in, unconvincingly.

Why were they talking about how pretty she was? Had they somehow seen that Eva had been staring at her practically all day…? No. Inwardly, she shook her head at herself, releasing a breath. She was just being paranoid.

Jerking her away from her thoughts, Jonas leaned forward and started kissing her open-mouthed, pushing her slowly back onto the bed. Neither of them really noticed Isak making a dramatic noise of disgust and leaving the room. _Jonas_ was her boyfriend, Eva reminded herself forcefully, pushing her hands through his curls. Handsome, funny, passionate Jonas.

She just needed to put Noora out of her mind.

If only it were that easy.

 

 

Chris could _snore._

Very, very loudly.

Groaning, Eva pulled her pillow tighter round her head, trying in vain to muffle the rumbling noise coming from the bed on the other side of the room. It felt like she’d been trying to get to sleep for hours, and though she’d tried coughing and even throwing a pillow at Chris when things got desperate- the other girl just snored on, lost to the oblivion of sleep.

Urgh. If she didn’t sleep tonight she’d be even worse at skiing tomorrow, and Noora would think she was even bigger loser than she probably already did.

Her frustration mounting, Eva kicked back the covers and unlocked the door, striding out into the corridor. Even with the door shut behind her, Chris’s snoring was still audible- Eva started to pace up and down the corridors, practically stomping past the rows of shut doors.

She walked until she could feel herself getting tired enough to consider going back to bed. Once back in the bedroom, despite Chris’s freight train-like snoring, she was exhausted enough to climb into bed and eventually fall asleep.

 

 

The next morning at breakfast down in the hotel restaurant, Eva could barely keep her eyes open. “You look awful” Chris said cheerfully, sitting down opposite her with a large bowl of cereal.

“You were snoring” she replied, a touch tetchily. “ _Loudly_.”

“Really?” Chris looked up with a grin, not in the least apologetic. “Just throw a pillow at me or something.”

“I tried” Eva muttered into her toast, opening her mouth to add something else- before she closed it abruptly, spotting Noora and Sana making their way over to their table.

“Morning” Noora said, smiling at her as she sat down beside her. Despite the fact that the rest of their classmates were almost as bleary-eyed and tousle-haired as Eva, Noora appeared almost radiant, wearing her usual red lipstick and her eyes bright.

As usual, all the words got stuck up in Eva’s throat as she looked at her, so she was grateful for when Sana announced bluntly, “Vilde’s sick.”

Chris grimaced. “As in, literally?”

“Apparently she has the ‘flu’” Sana said, etching quotation marks around the word as she rolled her eyes. “Right now she’s lying in bed dramatically coughing and sneezing. The teacher came up to see her and said she can’t ski today, she has to stay in bed and rest. Seems to me that ‘flu’ is just another word for ‘hangover’ with a few more theatrical coughs and sneezes thrown in.”

“That’s awful!” Eva said, feeling sorry for her friend. It must suck to come on a school trip and spent it lying miserably in bed.

“Poor Vilde” said Noora, real concern in her voice. “Shall we go up and give her some hot tea after this?”

“You can try” Sana said grudgingly, “but she says she can’t eat or drink because her throat hurts too much.”

As they ate, Noora turned to Eva. “I guess if Vilde’s ill, it’s just me and you today after your morning lessons?

“I guess so” Eva nodded, trying to shove down the thrill of nervous excitement that rose up in her at these words.

 

 

Despite the beauty of the snow and the mountains which still had her in awe, Eva’s morning lessons with the other beginners of the group were unbearable.

Though she improved marginally, it still felt like she was falling over every two seconds and her feet ached like hell. Without Vilde’s cheerful presence beside her, it was even less fun than yesterday. So much for impressing Noora with all that she’d learnt this morning.

After what felt like years, they were dismissed and she took a ski lift up to a restaurant at the top of the slopes where she was supposed to be meeting Noora. Noora appeared out of nowhere, elegantly skiing between groups of people with what looked like no effort whatsoever to come to an impressive sliding stop at her side. “How were your lessons?” she asked, before laughing at Eva’s face. “Wow, that good? You look like you need some lunch first.”

The two of them headed into the busy restaurant and joined the back of the queue that led to a hatch where the food was served. Eva was making Noora laugh as she told her about her pathetic attempts that morning, causing tiny shivers to race over her skin. Making Noora laugh, seeing her blue eyes crinkle at the corners and her smile grow wide, might have been Eva’s new favourite thing to do.

Behind them, a guy maybe a few years older than them standing with his friends leaned forward. He’d been staring rudely at Noora for the whole time, but they’d both been ignoring him. “Nice legs, sweetheart” he said to her, smirking.

Immediately, the smile fell off Noora’s face- the change was striking. Instead her face became a mask of cool impassivity, her eyebrows slightly raised. “ _Excuse me_?”

“Woah, it’s a compliment” the guy replied, sniggering with the rest of his friends. “No need to get so pissed, you’re supposed to be pleased.”

“Supposed to be _pleased_ ” she repeated, flatly. Around them, several people were turning to stare. Eva felt like an awkward spare part, yet a part of her was eagerly watching the unfolding events with wide eyes. Taking a breath, Noora turned fully towards the guys, her eyes now shooting a furious blue fire. “Did you fall over and hit your head on the slopes, or are you just naturally stupid?” More incredulous sniggers. “Let me enlighten you” she went on over it, her voice blunt. “How would you like to be reduced to nothing but a body part, as if that represents your worth as a human being? How would you like be valued for your body rather than your wit, or your intelligence, or your creativity? How would you like it if I came up to you and complimented your penis?”

All the guys’ jaws dropped- Eva was pretty sure hers had too. The queue had become completely stationary, everyone staring at them shamelessly. Noora gave a little laugh which was actually a little terrifying. “Oh wait, I would never do that. Seeing as it’s probably not big enough to comment on anyway.”

With that, she turned sharply back around, her eyes still icy blue with anger. Eva was too stunned to say anything until they had got their food and sat down, where she could actually form coherent speech.

“Oh my God!” she burst out, half-laughing with incredulity. “I can’t believe you just did that! You…you verbally slayed him, it was amazing.”

Noora still looked pissed as she set her glass down on the table with a thump. “What an asshole.”

“The whole queue was staring at you in, like, awe” Eva went on. She knew she was probably stupidly babbling, but she couldn’t help it. Noora was like ten times cooler than she’d first realised, and Eva couldn’t help but look at her in a completely different way. “Jesus, Noora! I wish Sana had been here to see that, she would have been literally cheering. It was incredible.”

Her anger seeming to melt away, Noora looked up with a smile, her eyebrows raised. “Incredible” she repeated.

Eva told herself not to get flustered. “I mean it. Wow. Consider me impressed.”

“Thank you. It was kind of fun, in a way, seeing his mouth drop like that.” She met Eva’s gaze for a moment until Eva dropped open her mouth in dramatized shock, imitating the guy, causing both of them to erupt into laughter.

 

After they’d eaten, Eva reluctantly followed Noora out onto the slopes.

To her relief, Noora was a very good teacher- patient, encouraging, and only laughing when she fell over once. On that occasion she skied over, brushing her hand over Eva’s forehead. “You have snow in your hair” she told her, grinning.

“Thanks for laughing at me when I fall over, teacher” Eva said teasingly, to hide how her stomach jumped when Noora touched her.

“Hey, I’ve been holding it in very well, I think. It’s only this time, because you looked like you were going white at your roots” Noora replied, laughing a little. “It was a good look, maybe you should try it.”

“So everyone else can laugh at me?”

As the afternoon went on, Eva found herself privately marvelling at how easy it was to be her normal dorky and teasing self with Noora. It taken her a while to get used to the girl squad and get over her shyness to start joining in with their jokes. With Noora, though, it had suddenly become so easy- they were constantly teasing each other with quips and comments, and Eva felt she couldn’t stop either laughing or smiling in her presence. It felt like they’d been friends for much longer than they really had.

And along the way she actually managed to get better at skiing! By the end of the afternoon she hadn’t fallen over in hours, and was getting more confident with the slightly sleeper parts of the slope that Noora led her to. However, she was completely exhausted, and relieved when Noora suggested they head back.

“You really improved today” she told Eva before they started skiing down. “Now I’m the impressed one.” She grinned at her before pushing off and leading the way down the mountain, Eva gazing after her a moment before following.


	3. Chapter 3

After they got back to the hotel, Eva had been planning to spend the rest of the afternoon chilling in her room- her body still ached from a day of skiing- but when Chris entered she jumped right onto the end of her mattress. The whole bed frame gave an alarming groan, like any moment it could collapse.

“Hey!” Eva yelped, looking up from her phone. “What are you doing?”

“What are _you_ doing, sitting here doing nothing like a loser?”

“I was _resting_.”

“Oh, come on” Chris replied, pulling on a sparkly beanie hat. “Wrap up warm again.”

“What are we doing?”

Chris’s only answer was a mysterious wink before she left the room again, throwing a pair of gloves into Eva’s lap as she did so.

 

Fifteen minutes later, Eva made her way into the hotel lobby wearing her ski coat, trousers, gloves and a hat. She hadn’t known what to wear so she’d just worn everything- it would have helped if Chris had actually given her a clue about what they were getting up to.

At first glance the lobby looked empty, and she looked around in confusion until she spotted Noora rising from one of the armchairs near the fire and making her way towards her. “There you are! Come on, everyone else is already outside.”

Intrigued, Eva followed her outside. Directly behind the hotel was a tall bank of snow curving rather steeply downwards, and Sana, Chris, Jonas and Isak were already waiting at the top of it. Along with three plastic sledges.

Eva burst into laughter. “We’re going sledding?”

Noora grinned at her, bright and beautiful. “Of course.”

“Finally” Jonas teased when the two of them joined the others at the top of the bank. “What were you two doing?”

“I didn’t know what to wear” Eva replied, with a glance at Chris, who only grinned.

Jonas looked at her. “Do you want to go on a sledge with-”

“I’ll go with you!” Isak said enthusiastically, already tugging Jonas over to the edge with the sledge in hand. Blinking, Jonas didn’t argue.

Meanwhile, Chris was pulling Sana down in front of her on the sledge, laughing at her extremely unimpressed expression. Noora turned to Eva. “Front or back?”

“Er, I don’t really mind.”

“You should probably go at the back, you have such nice long legs” Noora told her, settling at the front of their sledge. Trying to ignore the sudden spike in her heart rate, Eva nodded and sat down behind Noora- she was carefully aware of the way Noora settled back between her legs, leaning lightly back agasint Eva’s chest. It felt way too intimate, yet no one else- except Isak, who was blushing as Jonas sat down behind him- seemed to be bothered by the close contact.

“One, two, three!” Chris cried and all at once, the three sledges pushed off the edge and raced hectically down the steep bank. In front of her, Noora screamed which made Eva laugh as they were thrown upwards over a bump in the snow and landed heavily as they continued to hurtle downwards. It was all over in a few blurred, heart-racing moments. When Eva dug in her heels to stop them at the end, Noora jumped up first before offering her hand to Eva.

After a second, Eva took her gloved fingers and allowed herself to be pulled up. The two of them were both breathless with laughter.

“Come on, let’s do it again!” Noora said excitedly, taking the sledge from her and hurrying back up the bank. Chris, who somehow had managed to cover herself in snow, was already pulling Sana back up to the top; whilst Jonas and Isak had only just managed to stop before they ploughed into the wall.

Once they were seated again, Noora turned her head towards Eva. “Ready?”

Their faces were suddenly close enough that Eva could have kissed her; their frozen breath mingled in the air, and she could smell Noora’s shampoo. Her stomach jumped.

Before Eva could reply, someone suddenly pushed her hard in the back- it was Isak, laughing crazily, sending the two of them streaking down the bank even faster than the first time. Eva barely had time to shriek before the momentum tipped them both over into the snow at the bottom. She landed heavily on her back, winded, before Noora fell practically on top of her.

For a moment they both lay there, stunned and breathless. The whole length of Noora’s body was pressed against Eva’s, their chests rising and falling rapidly. Hardly daring to move, Eva’s heart raced.

Shattering the moment, Jonas was suddenly gripping Noora’s hand and helping her up. Eva watched her brush the snow off herself, laughing, whilst Jonas offered her his hand. As she took it, she met his eyes- for a second, she half-imagined that he was looking at her hard, almost judging her with an unhappy set to his mouth. Just as quickly the look was gone, as he turned to Isak and high-fived him. “Brilliant, man.”

“What! That was your plan, to shove us into the snow?” Noora demanded, mock-furious.

“You should have seen your faces” Isak said mischievously.

Noora glanced at Eva, her smile softening. “Here, you have snow in your hair again-” She out-stretched her hand and Eva’s stomach jumped again, expecting her to brush it off like she’d done earlier. However, Jonas stepped forward and tenderly brushed it off himself, smiling. “You still look a little stunned” he said, quietly teasing. “It’s cute.” He stepped forward and kissed her in the same open-mouthed way that felt a little desperate and overly intimate in front of other people.

After a moment, Eva broke away, picking up the sledge again. “Right, this time we’re pushing you two!”

They spent the next hour or so whizzing down the bank in breathless blurs of shouting and laughter, before running up the steep bank and being covered in snow started to get less fun. Starting to shiver as the temperature dropped, Eva stifled a yawn as she followed Noora and the others back into the lobby.

Norra glanced at her, amused at the yawn. “You’ll sleep well tonight.”

“I wish. Not with Chris’s freight train snoring. You laugh,” she went on as Noora chuckled, “but it really is that bad. Last night I got so frustrated that I-”

“Went wondering in the hotel corridors?” Noora asked with a slight smirk, eyebrows raised.

Eva stared at her. “Wait. How did you know that?” She let out a sudden groan, covering her face. “You saw me?”

“I heard footsteps and looked out the peep hole. You were gone before I could open the door and say anything.”

“Sorry if I woke you” Eva said grimly, thinking of another night of next to no sleep.

“You know,” Noora went on lightly, looking at her, “you can sleep in my room if you want. I know I was put in a room by myself, but it’s a double bed. We don’t have to tell the teachers.”

Eva turned to her with wide eyes, trying not to show just how eager she was for this idea. “Oh my god, really? That’s so nice of you.”

“I thought that maybe if you got some sleep you wouldn’t be quite so awful at skiing tomorrow” Noora replied with a grin.

“Seeing as you were my teacher, you’re actually criticising yourself there.”

“Touché.”

 

 

“You’re sleeping in Noora’s room tonight?” Jonas asked lightly.

Eva was sat beside him on a sofa that sucked her into its deep cushions in the hotel games room, where most of the teenagers hung out in the evening. There was a loud game of pool going on near the far wall; a group of girls were singing along to a music video showing on the small TV, and Vilde was holding court on the other sofa as well-wishers listened to just how sucky her day had been alone in her room.

“Yeah, she’s saving from me from Chris’s snoring. Maybe I’ll actually get some sleep tonight.”

“But I thought her’s was a single room?”

“It’s a double bed.”

“Ooohh” Isak said, winking at her from Jonas’s other side. “Eva and Noora, sitting in a tree…”

Eva rolled her eyes, knowing he was only teasing her. “Haha, Isak.” She looked back at Jonas. “It’s not a big deal, is it?”

“Of course not” he said, too quickly, before looking back at Isak. “Isak, do you know that dude?”

“Who?” Isak said, almost too casually.

“Him.” Jonas nodded to a group of boys belonging to another school currently staying at the hotel, chatting in the corner. The tallest boy, with an impressive quiff and a cute smile, kept repeatedly looking in their direction as he talked to his friends. “He keeps looking at you.”

“I didn’t even notice” Isak shrugged, apparently uninterested. _Hmmm_ , Eva thought.

Distracted, Jonas nodded, and Eva knew he’d only asked as a way to change the subject. She leaned into his side, wrapping an arm round his waist. Jonas looked down at her with a smile, and she saw some worry clear in his eyes as he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “I love you.”

“I love you too” she smiled up at him. And it was completely true.

So why did she feel a pang of guilt as she said it?

 

 

Finally, the moment that Eva had been pretending to herself all evening was ‘not a big deal’ had finally arrived.

Bedtime.

Standing outside Noora’s room with her suitcase, Eva took a breath and knocked. Why did she feel so nervous? It wasn’t a big deal. Just two friends, sharing a bed. She was beyond stupid to think it was anything else.

“Wait a moment” she heard Noora call, before the door opened and she saw Noora walking back into the bedroom, wearing pyjama shorts and topless except for a bra.

Eva’s stomach did a flip worthy of Olympic Gold Medal standards- okay, maybe this was a big deal. What had she gotten herself into?

She pulled her suitcase into Noora’s room- compared to her room, which had looked like a bombsite thanks to Chris- it was neat, with only a few clothes folded on the armchair in the corner and the bed still made. Noora, for her part, didn’t look awkward at all. “Hi!”

“Hey. Do you mind where I put this, or…?”

“Yeah, just dump it wherever, it’s fine.” Noora got up and pulled a t-shirt over her bra. She’d already taken off her red lipstick, and though she looked different without it- younger, more vulnerable somehow, she looked pretty in a completely different way.

Realising she was staring, Eva forced herself to get a grip as Noora disappeared into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Hurriedly she pulled on her pyjamas and tied her hair into a messy bun.

When Noora came out the bathroom she looked at Eva for a moment, tilting her head a little. “Your hair looks so cute like that.”

_Don’t you dare blush_. “Haha, this is just how I have it for sleeping.”

Noora smiled, shrugging. “People look cute when they’re not making an effort, know what I mean?”

After Eva had finished her turn in the bathroom she came back out to see Noora sat up in bed, yawning as she swiped through her phone. Taking another deep breath, Eva climbed in beside her- the bed was large enough that no part of her was close to touching the other girl, but she was acutely aware to the fact that she could reach out and touch Noora if she wanted to, and of the slight dip in the mattress towards her.

“This is fun, like a sleepover” Noora said, lying down and turning on her side to face Eva. “I’ve never had a sleepover before.”

Eva copied her position, resting her cheek on her hands. “Really? Never?”

Noora shook her head, holding her gaze. They were both smiling as they looked at each other for a moment. “So, what do you talk about at sleepovers?” Noora went on, grinning a little mischievously. “Crushes, secrets, confessions? Come on, we have to make up for all my lost years of girl gossip.”

Eva thought back to the dozens of sleepovers she’d had over the years with Ingrid and Sara, how they’d stay up late into the night giggling and whispering, letting secrets slip out into the dark.

“I don’t have any confessions, I’m afraid.”

“Let’s talk about your boyfriend! That’s a good sleepover topic, right? So, tell me about…Jonas, isn’t it?”

Eva felt oddly uncomfortable with this topic. “Er, we’ve been dating for a few months. He’s…wait, I don’t really know what else to tell you. What do you want to know?”

“Have you had sex with him yet?”

Eva felt herself blush, and Noora laughed. “Okay, I’ll take that as a yes. Is he your first proper relationship?”

“Yeah, my first official one. I mean, I’ve kissed people before but it’s never meant anything.”

“Have you ever kissed a girl?”

The breath stilled in Eva’s throat- Noora was holding her gaze, expectant and casual as if she’d just enquired about the weather. “No” she said finally. She was dying to ask if Noora had, but she wasn’t brave enough. Instead, she blurted out, “Have you ever had an official relationship?”

Noora shook her head. “Nope. I’ve kissed a few people at parties, but like you said, it’s not meant anything. I don’t want to rush into something with someone I’m not completely sure about. Why fool around when you could wait for real love?”

Eva nodded, and there was a moment of silence as they continued looking at each other until she ruined the moment, unable to hold back a huge yawn.

Noora laughed again. “Okay, I get the message, sleepyhead.” She rolled over and turned off the light, plunging them into darkness and reducing her voice to a disembodied whisper. “Goodnight, Eva. Sweet dreams.”

“Goodnight” Eva whispered back.

 

 

The next time Eva awoke, moonlight was streaming into the room through a crack in the curtains directly onto her face. For a moment she lay there peacefully, revelling in the warmth and _rightness_ she felt.

Only then did she realise that Noora was only centimetres away, both of them still turned on their side towards each other. The space between their faces was tiny- Eva wouldn’t even have to lean forward to brush her lips against Noora’s cheek or stroke a hand lightly over her hair.

The thought stirred a memory in her- back at a sleepover with Ingrid when she was around fourteen, Eva had awoken just like this, centimetres away from the other girl. Back then, Eva had pressed a feather-light kiss to Ingrid’s cheek, who had slept peacefully on. She’d never known. No one had ever known.

When Noora had asked her if she’d ever kissed a girl, a part of her had thrilled at the question, thinking of that stolen, perfect moment.

Now, Eva watched as Noora slept, the sheets pulled up almost to her chin and her hands under her chin like she was praying. She looked younger again, completely open and honest and the urge to lean over and kiss her just like she had to Ingrid rose up in Eva, pulling at her heart.

_No._ She loved Jonas, she told herself fiercely for about the fourth time that day, and whatever she felt for Noora could not come between her and Jonas- she would never break his heart like that.

She would never be able to forgive herself if she did.


End file.
